


fall back together (monsters turned out to be just trees)

by whatsdunisdun



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Camping, Canon Compliant, M/M, Road Trips, Set some time after 'whiskey', buckle up its a wild ride, in bitty's senior year, kent and bitty become best friends, kent and jack are friends again, parse positive, the author will protect chad with their life, they all just loVE EACH OTHER OKAY, trans!chad, transgender character, whiskey is sorting his shit out y'all, whiskey's boyfriend is Chad L (the lax captain)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 06:16:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19101385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whatsdunisdun/pseuds/whatsdunisdun
Summary: Soon enough, something that is surprisingly not Beyoncé is blaring out of the car’s speakers, and Parson is trying to see how loud he can turn the music up without pissing off Jack, who appears to be attempting to read a history book in the middle seat.Connor doesn’t understand these people most of the time, but he loves them. Reluctantly, but still.OR:Whiskey, Chad L, Jack, Bitty, Kent and Tater go on a weekend road trip/camping getaway together. Some unlikely friendships ensue, some emotions are discussed, and some relationships are finally worked out.





	1. Ace in the Hole by Saint Motel

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the omgcprb mods for organising this and helping out with everything, to the wonderful [topieornottopie](https://topieornottopie.tumblr.com) for creating the beautiful art that inspired this whirlwind of a fic (find it [here!)](https://topieornottopie.tumblr.com/post/185379760194/this-is-my-art-for-the-omgcpreversebang-2019-my) , and to my absolute favourite human in the world, [Betty](https://nhlandglitter.tumblr.com) for being the most wonderful oracle/cheerleader/beta I could have asked for! this one's for u, b <3
> 
> The timeline is mostly bludged, but I imagined its set in like early April. The place they road trip to is supposed to be Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, in upstate New York, but that’s never explicitly mentioned. The music they listen to in the car comes from a playlist Betty and I made ages ago for Bitty and Kent road tripping together, which we included because it’s a very full circle moment. You can find that [here!](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3pQBlzj1mNksgSPLMiuM9K?si=6J6TZKk6SFSKjK2WWoLyZg)
> 
> Chad is ftm trans in this fic, but the details aren’t super worked out – he’s out, but it’s not entirely common knowledge; he never had top surgery, but he’s probably been on T for a while. Let me know if you think any part of the way I wrote his character is incorrect, insensitive or offensive! 
> 
> Title is from 'Out of the Woods' by Taylor Swift, the inspiration for this whole thing! Each chapter has a relevant song/a song that inspired it for the title, and they're all wonderful songs that I recommend checking out. 
> 
> Warnings only for discussion of institutionalised/internalised homophobia, which all gets resolved. Let me know if you think I should warn for something else!

Connor is starting to think this was a mistake.

Like, most of him had known that since he first even considered going along with it, but something about it had called to him. Maybe it was the idea of getting to introduce Chad to some of the guys on the team, which had made more sense when there were more people planning to come than just Bitty and then a bunch of NHLers. Maybe it was for the best, to be starting with just the captain and some others more removed from the situation, because Connor is well aware of how the team talks about the LAX bros. And it’s not – look, that’s an argument for another time, because Connor’s certainly met some assholes in the LAX house, but Chad isn’t – he acts like he’s a part of all that, maybe to protect himself, but he’s not. Not really. Not in the ways that count.

They’re throwing their bags into the trunk of Zimmermann’s 7-seater family car, which he owns because god knows why, and Chad’s running late. Probably still deciding which outfits to pack, the self-absorbed fucker. Connor feels like he’s gonna shake out of his skin, and he can’t decide which part is worse: standing around with Bitty, Jack, and god damn Alexei Mashkov, of all people, three people he couldn’t be less comfortable with, or the idea of all of this with Chad added into the mix, someone he never knows where he stands with.

He has no actual problems with any of them, to be fair. Bitty is – he’s a good captain, okay, he leads the team well and he supports the freshers and is always there if you need or whatever, and Connor gets on _fine_ with him, especially surprising considering the whole party incident from a few months ago, but the only reason they moved past all that is because Connor vowed to completely ignore that it had happened and has refused to have anything remotely resembling a coming out conversation with Bitty. Jack is a really good guy too, and Connor’s looked up to him for as long as he can remember, but there’s still something uncomfortable under Connor’s skin when he looks at Jack and Bitty holding hands like neither of them ever got told they could be gay _or_ pro hockey players, but never both. Mashkov is – what the fuck even is there to say? He’s Russian, so frankly Connor’s surprised he’s even okay with Jack and Bitty, and he’s not overly convinced he wouldn’t have a massive problem with Connor and Chad, if there was, y’know, anything to have a problem with (that is, anything significant, anything public or noticeable). All the guys on the team last year who knew the guy were always going on about how much of a goddamn _teddy bear_ he is, which has gotta be a joke, right? Like, Connor’s seen him racing down the ice with murder in his eyes, and ‘teddy bear’ seems pretty far from ‘murderous and massive Russian’. Like, it’s fine, Bitty wouldn’t have let him come if he was gonna be a problem, but Connor’s still rightfully anxious about it.

Plus, apparently they’re meant to be waiting for a sixth person, Chad’s lateness aside, and Connor doesn’t actually know who it is. It’s not like they’re playing it up to be some secret, because Connor hasn’t exactly gone out of his way to find out, but if its not someone on the SMH team or the Falcs, Connor isn’t inclined to look forward to this.

Once they’re finished piling the bags into the car, Connor takes a step back and looks over to the LAX house across the road, willing Chad to come out already.

There’s a joke there somewhere. Connor is forcefully ignoring it.

Chad eventually emerges, meeting Connor’s eyes, which have probably been staring daggers into the front door of the house. Chad grins, unbothered by the approximately 17 bags he’s carrying, and bounds his way across the street, because he’s a goddamn child. Connor tries to keep glaring at him, but he’s self-aware enough to know there’s probably a disgustingly sappy grin on his face, which he’s trying to hide and certainly failing.

Once Chad gets over to the car, he puts all of his bags straight into the spot in the trunk reserved for him, and _seriously,_ Connor knew this was going to happen, but how on earth does he have that many god damn bags? What did he even pack? Supplies for an apocalypse bunker? Three different outfits for each day? But then Chad turns around, facing Connor, and Connor’s not going to say that his knees are weak or anything, cause that’d be pathetic, but it’s a close thing. He’s certainly not thinking about fashion or potential apocalypse bunkers anymore.

Chad’s walking towards him now, this grin on his face, and it’s – it’s exactly like that one smile he always has, like at the party right before Bitty saw them, like when they’re sitting on Chad’s bed watching a movie and Connor doesn’t know if he wants to cry or walk out or just never let go of Chad, and god help him if Chad kisses him right now in front of his captain and his captain’s boyfriend and the scariest fucking Russian in the NHL they are going to have _words_. That is, if Connor ever recovers. It’s kind of a case-by-case basis on whether or not Connor will survive Chad kissing him, but he seems to have done alright so far.

Chad clearly notices Connor’s distress, because he walks over, says “hi,” softly, and goes in for a hug that absolutely most definitely involves a kiss on the top of the head. Connor curses, not for the first time, that Chad is taller than him. It’s an unfair advantage, and Chad has been weaponizing it since they first met.

Connor, despite his now quite possibly weak knees, can’t really find it in himself to be upset, so he just soaks it in, before Chad pulls away and drags Connor with him to go and be introduced to the others.

 

///////////

 

Jack tends to find nothing more relaxing than having Bitty back in his arms, especially given how much time they’ve had apart the past few months, with Bits busier than ever with school and the captaincy, and NHL hockey as stressful as always. There’s just something about today, though, the five of them standing around Jack’s car (and no, Tater, it’s not a ‘mom van’, it’s a perfectly reasonable normal 7-seater), that sets him on edge. Jack politely draws Tater and Bitty into a conversation when Chad L walks over to Whiskey, not wanting either of them to feel too self-conscious, and he catches them hugging out of the corner of his eye.

Whiskey’s a good kid, Jack thinks. They never played together, Jack never got to be his captain, but Bitty’s always believed in him, and he’s brilliant on the ice. The whole drama earlier this year, where Whiskey wouldn’t open up and then shut down even more after Bits saw him at the party with Chad, Jack knows was really stressful for Bitty. He’s not blaming Whiskey at all, knows the kid’s got enough on his plate as is, but he worries about the tension there, how it bleeds into the game and how it affects both of them on and off the ice. Jack understands, he thinks, where Whiskey is coming from. Not so much not trusting Bitty, which might be part of Whiskey’s problem, but more that it can be really hard being out to people, even knowing that they won’t judge you or hurt you or tell anyone. Whiskey might make it to the show one day, Jack thinks, if he wants to, and Jack’s had enough of his dad’s friends tell him he just ‘can’t be gay, not if he wants to play NHL hockey’, to understand some part of what Whiskey might feel.

Still, he appreciates the kid making an effort to be closer with Bits after the party incident, because Bitty was distraught when he thought he’d hurt Whiskey, scared him enough for him to never be able to get on with the team well. And now Bitty seems to think he fits in better than ever, on good terms with his line and friendly with the rest of the team. And the fact that he agreed to come on this trip, seemed interested in bringing Chad and introducing him, is really good for the team; it feels like he’s offering up a part of his life, asking for support in a quiet way, and Jack and Bitty have spent a long time talking about how to go about including Whiskey, and by extension Chad, into the SMH group the best they can. Jack knows Bitty has a bit of lingering fear of the LAX bros, and Jack understands, knows they can be one of the more homophobic groups on campus, but Jack also knows Chad L a little better than most of the other guys, and he seems like a genuinely good guy.

When Jack was in his last year as captain, Chad L was in his first year as captain, a sophomore who looked petrified half the time and seemed to act up the ‘boofhead’ nature characteristic to a LAX bro in an attempt to be accepted as captain by his team. The few times Jack spoke to him, there were always more LAX bros around, and Chad would be polite to Jack, but never discourage the sneering the other boys would do, never quiet the whispers about Jack’s past, the jokes about drugs and rehab and sometimes about Kent. Now, though, Chad has the respect of his team, doesn’t need to put down the hockey boys to make his team listen to him. Now, Chad is walking over to Bitty, shaking his hand gently, greeting him softly, a kind smile on his face.

“I know we’ve spoken in the Varsity Captains meetings,” Chad’s saying, “but it’s nice to meet you when we don’t have to represent our sports or whatever. Connor speaks very highly of you, I know you’ve been a really great captain to him and the other boys.”

Bitty looks far less afraid than he did before, smiling at Chad and returning the sentiment. Jack squeezes Bitty’s hand, still held in his own hand, and Bitty squeezes back, smiles up at Jack but keeps up the conversation with Chad.

Eventually, Chad turns to Jack, introducing himself and somewhat bashfully telling him what an honour it is to meet him. There’s a slightly awkward moment when Chad puts his hand out for Jack to shake, but realises Jack will have to let go of Bitty’s hand, and starts apologising, but Jack shakes his hand and they laugh it off, and Jack finally knows he can be comfortable here, can trust Chad. Chad is now undeniably aware of Jack and Bitty holding hands, and Jack feels confident he won’t be weird about their relationship, and it’s not that Jack thought he would be a real homophobe, obviously, because at the very least he was seen making out with Whiskey, but that doesn’t mean part of Jack wasn’t still a bit afraid. There’s a lot resting on this, Jack thinks, how the next few days go and then how the rest of the year goes, how Whiskey fits himself back into the team dynamics. There’s also a little more than that, though Whiskey probably doesn’t realise it yet. Jack and Bits didn’t want to meddle, but they saw an opportunity and they took it, okay? The kid wants to go pro, the Aces need the kind of scoring depth Whiskey has, and Tater barely ever gets to see his boyfriend. It lined up to well to act like Jack and Bitty orchestrated it; they did little more that put the idea into the universe and let everything fall into place.

Chad’s introducing himself to Tater now, getting an overgrown Russia hug in return, and Whiskey looks a little bit terrified, so Jack goes over and chats to Whiskey while Chad grins at whatever dumb joke Tater made.

Whiskey’s nothing but polite, even kind, maybe a bit softer than usual with Chad standing right beside him. He asks Jack about his season, how the leadership position has been and how much he’s been looking to the bye-week. Jack asks him about his classes, hears about the chemical engineering professor Whiskey’s ready to kill, and he watches as the kid relaxes more and more. Eventually, he decides that he was right, Whiskey is a good kid. He also decides that these next few days will go well; barring any actual disasters, the group’s going to get along well enough that there shouldn’t be any dramas. Jack hopes that some good things will come from this, solidifying some alliances and friendships, maybe helping everyone feel a little more supported. He finally stops feeling anxious about it all, and lets himself smile, knowing it’s going to be a good trip.

Which is, of course, when a taxi pulls up the curb outside the Haus, and Kent Parson steps out, sunglasses on top of his head and blinding grin on his face.

 

///////////

 

When Kent shuts the door of the cab, waiting for the trunk to pop so he can grab his bag, everyone standing around Jack’s car immediately stops and turns to stare at him. He’s kind of used to it, not to be cocky or anything, so he gives them a grin and gets his bag out, thanking the driver and shutting the trunk. When the car drives away, he finally turns around, and like, he’s aware that there are several people there, and he’s excited to see _all_ of them, seriously, even the lacrosse guy that Bittle’s a bit worried about and they know very little about, but. It’s been too long since he’s seen Tater, okay, and it takes him a second to remind himself they’re in public and no, he cannot go and kiss his boyfriend, no matter how much he wants to.

Instead, he heads over and greets everyone else first – a bro hug for Jack, a slightly softer bro hug for Bittle (he loves the guy, but he seriously looks _breakable_ , and he doesn’t want to think about what Jack would do if Kent injured his boyfriend by hugging him too hard), a handshake for the lacrosse guy (Chad, he says his name is, and it makes sense to Kent in a way he’s not sure he understands), and a hug for Whisk, who looks kind of scared to shit of Kent. He hopes that changes, because Kent would genuinely love for the guy to think about signing with the Aces as soon as he’s ready to. That’s kind of the point of this trip though, right? To show Whisk that he’d fit in with the Aces.

Then he heads over to Tater, who looks like he might chirp Kent but only so he doesn’t start crying. Seriously, it’s been a while since they’ve seen each other. Talking on the phone and skyping and texting every second of every day isn’t enough when you’re in _love_ , okay?

He hugs Tater, and then forgets to let go, and then realises a few seconds later how un-platonic that hug was, and knows Jack’s been caught by paps on Samwell’s campus before, so he pulls away reluctantly, and in an attempt to gather the spirit of every ‘no homo’ teammate he’s ever played with, holds his hand out for a fist bump. Bittle coughs to cover up a giggle, and Kent doesn’t say anything. Tater obliges and bumps his fist, but it’s very clear they’d both rather be holding hands.

Kent turns around, giving Bittle the tiny death glare he deserves for laughing at Kent’s suffering, but he knows Bittle and Jack both understand. After all, it wasn’t long ago that they were as closeted as Kent and Tater, so there’s probably no one else that understands like the two of them do.

“So,” Kent asks, enthusiastic as he has the ability to be on a Friday morning, “who’s ready to roll?”

Whisk snickers a bit, which – yeah, fair, Kent’s a goddamn dork and Whisk’s gonna be well aware of it by the time they get home.

Despite his amusement, Whisk still looks a little uncomfortable, but Bittle has already started herding everyone into their designated seats. When Chad climbs into the very backseat, and Whisk is immediately instructed to get back there too, Kent catches a glimpse of downright terror on his face before he climbs in.

Kent’s pretty sure everything’s going to be fine, because Bittle has his scheming face on and seems to think Whisk’s terror is a mark of success, so Kent grabs his seat up front and settles in for a fairly long ride.


	2. WILD by Troye Sivan

They’ve been in the car for a little less than an hour when Chad starts looking a little uncomfortable from where he’s sitting beside Connor. He’s been doing his best to stay engaged in the conversation, Connor thinks, and he’s already started winning over most of the other guys in the car.

There’s some weird Russian pop music playing in the car, because apparently the driver gets DJ preferences, and someone thought Mashkov was a good choice for first driver, which baffles Connor. Chad seems to be enjoying it, if only because he hasn’t pulled out his headphones yet to listen to his own mix. Nothing is going as bad as Connor expected; everyone is happy, having fun, and including everyone in the jokes and conversation. 

Why, exactly, Chad looks uncomfortable doesn’t occur to Connor until Chad starts shifting his shoulders around, looking like he’s trying to take deep breaths.  Connor knows Chad doesn’t mind the others in the car knowing, because they talked about this already, but Connor still decides to text him instead of asking out loud. 

_ Connor Whisk, 11:24am: _

_ are u binding rn? _

Chad sees his phone goes off, and stares at the text for a few seconds too long before he looks up at Connor and nods quietly. 

“Starting to wish I wasn’t,” he mutters, and Connor wants to reach out for his hand so bad it kind of scares him. 

Instead, he says, loud enough that Bitty can hear him from the middle seat, “Bitty, do you think we could do a pit stop soon? I kind of need the bathroom.” 

Rather than rolling his eyes like Connor probably deserves, Bitty turns around and smiles, and nods, says “Sounds like a good idea to me! I can grab the snacks out of the trunk then too.” 

He taps Parson in the front passenger seat on the shoulder, confirms that a pit stop is due, and the directive seems to be passed on to Mashkov, who nods and asks everyone to point out any signs they see about the next gas station. 

Connor looks back to Chad, trying to ask if he’s going to be okay until the stop without actually verbalising anything, and Chad grabs Connor’s hand in his own and leans his head on Connor’s shoulder.  Connor’s just glad he didn’t try to speak, because he’s not super sure his voice would be working right now. 

It’s another 10 minutes or so before the car pulls into a gas station, and it takes a ridiculous amount of time and effort to get everyone out of the car. Bitty, captain voice on, tells everyone to be back at the car in 5 minutes, and they all head off.  Connor thinks Mashkov looks like he’s going to try to sneak some snacks from the store back to the car, which will undoubtedly cause some conflict with Bitty. 

Connor follows Chad in his search for the bathrooms, but ends up waiting outside instead, glancing around at the kind of customers in a gas station in Nowhere, Massachusetts. He finds them to be exactly what you would expect: a mix of truck drivers, families with tiny crying children, and the odd middle-aged person drinking coffee and looking sleep deprived.

When Chad emerges a few minutes later, he looks less tense, a little more relaxed, happier. He smiles up at Connor, and grabs his hand once again, which makes Connor think he should probably get used to all the handholding, so he doesn’t put himself at risk of injury every time this happens.  

As they walk back to the car, it becomes apparent that there has been some rearrangement of the seating chart: Parson is climbing into the driver’s seat, and attempting to drag Bitty into the passenger seat, yelling something to Mashkov about music choices and DJIng skills. 

Jack lets Connor and Chad into the very back seats again, then climbs into the seat in front of Connor, while Mashkov climbs in beside him. 

Bitty, now sat in the passenger seat, has been goaded by Parson into plugging his phone into the car’s speaker, because apparently his “DJ skills are ungodly and we should all be blessed to hear his music choices”. 

Connor, who has to listen to Bitty’s music choices near daily, is inclined to disagree, but he keeps that to himself. 

Soon enough, something that is surprisingly not Beyoncé is blaring out of the car’s speakers, and Parson is trying to see how loud he can turn the music up without pissing off Jack, who appears to be attempting to read a history book in the middle seat. 

Connor doesn’t understand these people most of the time, but he loves them. Reluctantly, but still. 

Connor sits back, content to let the music blast (Taylor Swift? Maybe?) and listen to Chad singing along quietly in his ear. Eventually, Mashkov appears to get bored with trying to annoy Parson, and turns around to Chad behind him. 

“Chad! Excited for the camping?” He asks, weirdly enthusiastic. Chad seems to be charmed by the accent, and they strike up a conversation. 

“It’s been a while,” Connor hears Chad say, at one point, “but I used to love going camping with my family and stuff. Kind of makes me miss them, to be honest.” 

Connor squeezes Chad’s hand, which, yes, is still holding his, and everything is fine, thank you for asking. 

Chad smiles at him, then turns back to Mashkov. Something in Connor chest flares up, and if he weren’t so horrified at the prospect, he’d probably call it jealousy. 

Connor zones in and out for the rest of the conversation, trying not to fall asleep but not quite having the energy to stay engaged. At one point, he notices Mashkov getting more and more giggly, and part of him is smug knowing how easily Chad can charm people, but there’s a voice there to counter that saying  _ he’s not even yours. _

And it’s true. Connor and Chad have known each other for almost two years, and there’s been  _ something  _ there for most of that time, but they’ve never spoken about it in terms of something exclusive. Honestly, they’ve never really spoken about it at all. Chad certainly isn’t his boyfriend, no matter how badly Connor wants that to be true, and he’s learnt to accept that that’s probably how it will always have to be. Just getting to have the guy by his side is going to have to be enough, getting to hold his hand and kiss him in shadows and know privately that there’s something there even if he can never tell anyone. 

So Mashkov giggling, being charmed, isn’t surprising, because Chad can charm just about anyone if he wants to, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t kind of hurt. Sure, Connor can pretty much rest assured nothing will happen between Chad and the tallest Russian player on the Providence Falconers, but it does remind him of his place. Namely, that he has no claim to Chad. 

This thought in mind, and his stomach feeling heavy, Connor pulls his hand out of Chad’s grip, and leans towards the window, giving into the need to nap. He hasn’t been sleeping well lately, and if he’s going to get the opportunity to sleep here, he may as well take it. 

Chad looks at him, eyebrows raised in light concern, and Connor smiles softly, then snuggles down to sleep, tuning out the sound of Chad and Mashkov’s continued conversation. It’s not his goddamn business anyway. 

 

///////////

 

Kent is glad as hell that he invited Bittle to sit in the front with him. Well, invited is probably too mild. Maybe… coerced. 

Anyway, some old Troye Sivan song is playing over the car’s speakers, and Bittle appears to be composing a playlist just for this trip. Or maybe he’d already made one, Kent isn’t sure. The guy’s kind of enigmatic, in Kent’s humble opinion. 

It’s not that they don’t get along. In fact, if the few hours they’ve been in the car together is any indication, they almost get along  _ too  _ well. It’s just that there’s so much subtext to their relationship, just like there is between Kent and Jack, and Kent knows he didn’t get the benefit of the doubt to begin with. Bittle’s admitted it straight up – he used to hate Kent. Kent sure as hell doesn’t blame him. 

So they had a pretty damn rough beginning, what with all the drama between Jack and Kent at the time, and the fact that Bittle and Jack were about to fall into something at the time. But Bittle and Jack got their shit sorted, and eventually Jack and Kent put in a huge amount of work to forgive each other and rebuild a friendship, and as a result, Kent got to be friends with Bittle. 

They’ve never really hung out in person since everything got sorted out, but they’ve started texting, like, all the time. Bitty sends him memes about Beyonce, Kent returns the favour with photos of Kit. Lots of photos of Kit. Definitely not too many, because such a thing does not exist. 

This weekend is the first time they’re hanging out together, the first time they’ve even seen each other face to face since the dreaded epikegster, so Kent was sure it was going to be at least a little bit awkward. But honestly, it’s been fine. It’s been more than fine. They get along really well, they’re great as a team at pissing off Jack, and they’re working together to complete plan Convince Whisk to Sign with The Aces.

That particular plan seems to be going… well, Kent thinks. He’s not super sure, because Whisk seems pretty hard to read, but certainly nothing has gone overly wrong yet.

Kent sees himself in Whisk more than he wants to admit. The kid seems like less of a fuckup than Kent was at that age, but they still have a lot in common. For one, Kent’s fairly confident that there’s something there between Whisk and Chad, and it seems kind of like Whisk is shit-scared about it. Kent remembers being that way about Jack, a lifetime or so ago, and he sympathises.

Whisk also plays some damn good hockey, certainly NHL level, but he doesn’t seem confident that he’s going to make it to the big leagues. Kent has a suspicion that it might have something to do with the whole Chad thing, and he relates to that too. After all, for all he knew in juniors, if you were gay, you’d never make it to the show.

Kent thinks maybe he needs to actually talk to the kid over the weekend, blatantly, about the culture of the aces locker room, about the fact that no one there would ever have a problem with Kent, or any other LGBT+ person. He might even balls up and try to talk to him about what’s happening with Chad. It’s a damn big responsibility, and he could mess it up incredibly easily, but he thinks it could be worth it. If someone had spoken to Kent about Jack in juniors, given him a place to talk about it and told him it was okay to feel the way he did, things probably would have turned out a lot better. It’s probably the least he can do for Whisk, say that he’s been in the same position and it gets a lot better.

Because it did get better, for Kent. He got to the league, he got to know that Jack was safe, he got to see a therapist, he got the trust of an entire team and franchise, and he got to be in a healthy, happy relationship. He wouldn’t give it up for anything, but it might have been nice to know he’d get here, on those nights he spent staring at the ceiling and wondering if it would be better if he didn’t wake up the next morning.

It’s an extremely sobering thought. He really, really hopes that Whisk doesn’t have those nights. Kent wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone.

Kent looks back in the mirror to check on Whisk, and sees that he’s fallen asleep, head on Chad’s shoulder. Chad’s still talking with Tater, but instead of the animated, loud manner he had before, he’s now talking quietly, careful not to move too much and jolt Whisk.

Kent thinks that if he’s right about there being something there for Whisk, then it’s definitely not one-sided.   
  



	3. Future Friends by Superfruit (ft. Brian Robert Jones)

Not minutes after they park at the campsite, all of the setting-up jobs have been established and appointed, and the brief unpacking chaos that could have gone on for hours has ceased. Jack finds himself mostly jobless, despite being more than capable of setting up a tent, but he doesn’t complain. Kent appears to be without something to do as well, so Jack gravitates towards him, and leaves the tents to the other four. 

He and Kent set up the tarp for the common area, and set up all the cooking stuff they brought too. By the time they’ve unpacked all the chairs, the tents are underway, so Jack and Kent settle down to watch and laugh at the somewhat messy proceedings. 

Bitty has paired off with Chad, and they both seem… kind of terrifyingly competent. Jack would not voluntarily get in their way. 

Tater and Whiskey, however, are far from competent. They seem to still be trying to identify the poles from the pegs, while the other two have got a semi-standing tent already. Jack would step in and help, just to end their suffering, but it’s kind of hilarious, and Kent seems to be enjoying the hell out of it. Jack has no plans to interrupt Kent’s entertainment.

Whiskey narrowly misses whacking Tater in the head with a pole, and Kent cracks up laughing. When the two of them turn to look at Kent, he seems to attempt to make it more covert, but when he meets Jack’s eyes, the mirth is still clear. 

“Should I go ask him politely not to kill my boyfriend?” Kent asks, gesturing subtly at Whiskey. 

“I think you might freak him out if you do, honestly. He might not quite get the hint that you’re being friendly, given how much sway you have over his career,” Jack responds. 

“Right,” Kent cracks, “because I’m so threatening and terrifying.” 

Jack laughs. 

It’s really, really good to be around him again, in a fun, stress-free environment. Well, Jack revises, stress-free for them. Whiskey looks a bit like he might have an aneurism if he can’t work this tent out soon. 

Bitty and Chad finish putting the fly on the outside of the tent with a flourish, and Jack and Kent clap politely while Bitty takes a bow, Chad standing beside him giggling but looking comfortable in his surroundings. 

Jack makes eye contact with Bitty, who blows him a kiss, so Jack, in the spirit of having some careless fun, leans to the side to catch it, and ends up toppling his chair over. Everyone looks at him when he crashes to the ground, but Bitty’s laughing, and Kent helps him back up and into the chair again. Tater’s rolling his eyes, and Whiskey seems a bit (perplexed) at the side of Jack he probably thought didn’t exist. 

Bitty throws Jack one last smile, then he and Chad start on the other tent, which they’d claimed they could finish before Tater and Whiskey finished their first one. They’d only brought three tents, because they sleep two people quite comfortably, and the camp site is big enough to fit all three tents quite easily, so it seems to have been a good plan. Jack certainly isn’t volunteering to sleep in the one Tater’s setting up, though. 

When Jack turns back to Kent, he’s expecting some intense chirping, but Kent has this look on his face, almost contented, and when he opens his mouth Jack doesn’t know what’s going to come out. 

“You know you should be putting a ring on that, right?” Kent asks, and Jack would almost be startled if he weren’t so used to being surprised by Kent Parson. 

“He’s expressly forbidden me from doing that so early on,” Jack says instead. 

Kent huffs out a laugh, says, “I didn’t realise how obvious it would be.” 

Jack makes an enquiring noise, so Kent keeps going. 

“How happy he makes you. How well you’re doing.” There’s a pause, then, “How far you’ve come, though I guess I might be more likely to see that than everyone else is.” 

Jack nods, because he can see that. He has come a long way; they both have. 

“I’m really lucky to have him, and to be where I am, in a lot of ways,” Jack says, after a pause. 

“I never believed we could make it here. Not just both playing in the league, but both doing really well for ourselves, on and off the ice. I used to be so – scared, I guess, that neither of us could ever get to where we wanted to be,” Kent says, and they’ve had this conversation before, but it bears repeating. 

“He helped me stop being afraid,” Jack says, then, because Kent looks ready to blame himself, “and you helped me too, even if neither of us knew it at the time.”

Kent’s silent for a moment, then says, “Can you imagine going back and telling yourself in the Q that you’d be the first openly queer NHL player?” A laugh bubbles out of his throat as he says it, and they exchange a look of disbelief, even though it’s been the better part of a year since Jack kissed Bitty on live television. 

Jack can’t really imagine that, no.

“You were… part of the reason I did it, you know,” Jack says, and looks out at the campsite, watching the continued tent failures. 

“Not just because of juniors, I know we’ve talked about that, but what I never told you is – knowing about you always made me think there were others out there, you and probably other people too, who needed to see that it was possible. I’m so lucky, having Bits, getting to see how possible it is to be gay and play hockey, even if he plays in a different league, but I know other people don’t see it the same way. If I hadn’t known about you, though, I’m not sure I’d have believed I wasn’t alone in the NHL. I’m not sure I’d have had anyone to do it for.” 

When Jack looks back at Kent, he’s staring intently at the failed tent Whiskey and Tater are still going at, and he looks like he might have tears in his eyes.

“Jack Zimmermann,” he says, “you’re a goddamn legend, you know that?” 

Jack laughs, throaty and raw and clearly tearful. 

“Yeah, well, I’ve got a lot of good people around me,” Jack responds. 

“So have I, and I still couldn’t have done what you did,” Kent claps back. 

“You didn’t have to, Kent. No one’s asking you to,” Jack says, then pauses. 

He looks out at Tater and weighs up his words before he speaks again. 

“I’m not the only one that should be putting a ring on things, Kent. You and Tater have got a damn good thing going for you. I remember when he first told me, it felt like it came out of nowhere, but now – I can’t imagine anything else, for either of you.” 

Kent laughs, but it sounds bitter, and it reminds Jack distantly of the voicemails Kent used to leave Jack, when he was in rehab and in his first year and all the way up until the epikegster. Jack has to force himself to remember that Kent’s happier now than he was then, that so much has changed, because it seems like part of Kent is still stuck back there, living in fear of things never getting better. 

“I’ve never really been the guy people are serious about, y’know. And I love Alexei so much, but Jack, sometimes it seems like I never  _ will be _ that guy. I can’t imagine ever getting over the fear that he’s going to run away eventually, that one day he’ll decide he’s had enough.” 

“I was,” Jack says, and it’s quiet, but he knows Kent hears. “I was serious about you, and I still am, as a friend. I want you in my life, Kent. Forever. I know for damn sure that Tater does too, in a whole different way. I know you’ve seen things in your life change, but I hope you see that you’ve changed too. You’ve grown so, so much over the last few years, and I’m so proud of you. You deserve a happy ever after, more than anyone I know.” 

At that moment, there’s a loud snapping noise, and the frail looking tent Tater’s been working carefully on collapses, Whiskey lying inside for some reason unknown to Jack. Whiskey makes an undignified squealing noise as the poles fall down on top of him, momentarily trapping him, and Kent and Jack lose it laughing once again, emotional moment gone but Jack’s words still on both their minds. 

Bitty finally gives in and goes over to Whiskey and Tater to help set them on the right track for their tent-building adventures, and when Whiskey has been rescued and Bitty is helping them through laughter, Kent looks back to Jack, gentle smile on his face. 

“Thank you, Jack. You always know the right thing to say. I wouldn’t be where I am without you.” 

“That’s not true. You’re stronger than you realise, Kent,” he pauses, then adds with a grin, “though I will say, Tater was way too scared to actually talk to you about how he felt until I gave him a pep talk, so I’ll take a tiny bit of credit for that.” 

Kent laughs and shoves Jack gently, not quite enough to knock him out of the chair again.

“Speaking of pep talks and, uhh, not knowing it’s okay to be queer in the NHL…” Kent says, looking pointedly once again at the disaster tent, specifically at Whiskey. 

Jack gives him a knowing smile. 

“Yeah. You think you might find the time to give him a bit of a chat? Bits thinks if I try it’ll come across the same way it does from him, and that’s never ended well in the past.” 

He looks over to Whiskey, who looks almost upset at this point about the tent chaos. Jack watches as he glances over to Chad, who’s almost finished setting up his second tent, and he notices that the look on Whiskey’s face is – embarrassed, maybe, almost like he’s regretting ever coming here. 

Jack thinks he might need a relationship pep talk, as well as a career one. Kent shares a glance with Jack that says he thinks the same thing.

 

///////////

 

Volunteering for tent set-up might have been a big mistake, Connor thinks. Well, he maintains that coming here at all is probably where the trouble started, but he didn’t realise how hard setting up a basic tent could be. Or that Mashkov would be so bad at it. 

It’s not that he’s not used to being bad at things, because studying at a university level is incredibly difficult and he only just scrapes through with a passing GPA and a few mental breakdowns every semester. He’s just used to being able to hide how bad he is at things, to deflect by showing off what he’s good at and proving how unimportant his failures are. He’s not even planning to stay studying after this year, because hockey is his life’s ambition, and he doesn’t need a degree for that. 

But right now, there’s no way to deflect his camping failures, not least because Chad is standing with Bitty and  _ laughing  _ at what a disaster this tent is turning into. It’s embarrassing _.  _ Bitty’s already come over to help them out, showing them what they need to do, but they’re managing to struggle with it even with the in-depth instructions. 

Mashkov looks about as embarrassed as Connor feels, but instead of Bitty and Chad he keeps glancing over at Parson and Jack. After Connor catches Parson throwing Mashkov a surprisingly genuine grin, Mashkov starts huffing and rolling his eyes. 

“Damn boyfriend,” he sulks, “is always making fun. Not my fault I not go camping much!”

“Right?” Connor asks. “Boyfriends. So annoying. We can’t all be perfect at this shit.” 

Right as Mashkov looks up to Connor, a hint of surprise and a massive grin both on his face, Connor catches up with the conversation, and who he’s having it with. And the fact that he just called Chad his boyfriend, out loud. 

“Wait, I – what? Did you say – I mean – I didn’t – you’re not –” Connor tries, only to be cut off by Mashkov. 

“Your boyfriend even more judgemental than mine, if is possible. Kenny not even doing anything but laughing at me, but Chad already doing much better than us.”

Connor is frozen in shock. 

“Kenny – Parson? Is your – boyfriend?” 

Now Mashkov looks even more surprised. 

“You not know about me and Kenny? You not see him always flirting with me? Little B not mention our competition?” 

Despite himself, Connor asks, “… competition?” 

“Yes!” Mashkov says, and now he just looks excited, “we have season long competition for who is cuter couple, me and Kenny or little B and Zimmboni! Me and Kenny definitely winning, no matter what little B say.”

“You’re … a couple?” Connor asks, again, because he thinks he might be going crazy. 

“Yes! Is what I’m saying! You really not know?” 

They expected Connor to know that? Neither of them is out, Connor knows, because… well, obviously Connor would know if the captain of the team he most wants to sign with was openly queer, because it would probably let Connor feel a lot more comfortable with the idea of playing there. They also haven’t done anything overly couple-y since this morning, although looking back Connor can see it slightly in the tone of their interactions. 

Still. Connor certainly didn’t see this coming. 

And then Connor thinks about the other part of this, that not only has he outed himself to the massive Russian hockey player they’re travelling with, but he also called Chad his boyfriend, which is just – not true. 

Mashkov, who is possibly less of a threat than Connor first assumed, looks kind of worried now, possibly because Connor is still silent, and maybe shaking in his boots. 

“Whisk? You okay?” Mashkov asks. 

“I’m fine,” Connor responds, ignoring the strain in his voice, “sorry. I didn’t realise you – and I – what I said before, about Chad, it’s not – like that. He’s not my boyfriend.” 

“What you mean, not your boyfriend? Why not?” 

Connor huffs.

“Because he doesn’t want to be? Or just because – he’s just not, we’re not dating, I didn’t mean that. That’s not a thing.” 

Mashkov stares at him, then rolls his eyes and finally gets back to work on the tent. 

“You just as stupid as Kenny used to be. You not even realise boyfriend when he’s right in front of you. Chad probably ‘sneak dating’, like I used to do with Kenny. You two need talk, silly.” 

Connor doesn’t know what to say to that. He’s known this guy for less than a day, there’s no way he knows more about Connor’s relationship than Connor himself. Even if he claims to have been through the same thing, it’s different. Connor and Chad aren’t dating; Connor would know if they were. That’s how this works. 

Connor starts rethinking all of their interactions anyway, though. Does Chad treat him like a boyfriend? Would Chad want Connor to be that to him? Do other people think they’re dating? 

He mindlessly works on the tent while he thinks about it, and before he knows, the tent’s finally finished and ready to go. There’s a brief scuffle over who has to take the bad tent, which Connor tries to stay out of, but it turns out Chad put all of his and Connor’s bags into one of the good tents earlier, so the two of them leave the bad tent to Parson and Mashkov. 

After that’s sorted, they start talking about making dinner, which they’ll have to cook on the gas stove with a fire out of commission because of the oncoming rain. When Bitty starts handing out jobs, it finally sinks in for Connor that he’s going to be sharing a tiny two-man tent with Chad for the next two nights, lying almost on top of each other and probably trying to avoid the inevitable contact in their sleep. He tries not to freak out about it, but is mostly unsuccessful.

It’s certainly going to be interesting.


	4. Bonfire Heart by James Blunt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the last scene in this chapter is based on topieornottopie's wonderful art, which, again, you can find [here!](https://topieornottopie.tumblr.com/post/185379760194/this-is-my-art-for-the-omgcpreversebang-2019-my)

When Kent wakes up the next morning, his entire torso is being crushed by a huge, gangly Russian. He doesn’t have it in himself to complain, certainly not to push Tater off, because he knows he’s been missing this the past few months.

Instead, he runs through what he needs to do for the day, waiting for Tater to wake up. When he does, which only takes a few minutes, Kent leaves him with a kiss on the forehead and heads out of the tent to go set up for breakfast.

He finds Whisk sitting under the main tarp, staring blankly into a cup of something resembling coffee. Kent pours himself a cup of coffee from the pot still sitting on the stove and sits down next to the kid.

“Where’s your man?” Kent asks him.

Whisk looks up at him with thinly veiled anger in his eyes, and despite himself, Kent is kind of taken aback. So maybe things are worse than he thought.

“He’s not my _man_ , Jesus Christ,” Whisk snaps.

“Okay,” Kent says patiently, “Where’s Chad?”

Whisk shrugs. “Sleeping, last time I checked.”

Kent nods, takes a risk and asks, “So… _why_ is he not your man, bud?”

Whisk looks murderous still, but now also kind of sad.

“What’s that supposed to mean? He’s just not. Why would he be?” The last part sounds rhetorical, but Kent answers it anyway.

“I don’t know, maybe because you both want him to be? And he could be? And there’d be nothing wrong with it if he was?”

Whisk shakes his head, says, “It’s not like that. I doubt he wants to be. And besides, I want to make it to the NHL. I want to play there, play well, find a team that I like and that likes me. None of that’s gonna happen if I’m – gay, or whatever. It’s not a possibility.”

Kent blinks at him.

“Tater told you yesterday, right? That he and I are dating? Did you miss the part where we _both_ play in the NHL? Very successfully, if I do say so myself.”

Whisk just breathes heavily for a minute, then says in a tiny voice, “That’s the thing, though. It’s different for me, right? You’re the same as Jack. Just cause he can do it doesn’t mean I can. I’ll never be as good as he is, as you are. I have a lot more to prove.”

Kent thinks he might understand this a bit more now. After all, Kent, Jack, and Tater aren’t the only queer people in the NHL. Kent’s spoken to a number of people in the league about it, and not all of them are poster boys the way the three of them are. Privately, Kent doesn’t think Whisk would be far off being a poster boy, because his skill is kind of off the charts, but that’s not the kind of guarantee he can give to the kid.

And the point is, Whisk is wrong. You don’t have to be the best to be able to be queer. Maybe some locker rooms are less accepting, but Kent knows for damn sure that anyone on the Aces could be queer in any form and everyone in the franchise would be nothing but supportive. It’s one of the few things in his career he’s truly proud of: his team being as accepting as they are.

Kent puts his hand on Whisk’s shoulder and tries to be as encouraging as he can. After all, this was why he was invited here in the first place. He’s been tasked with talking Whisk into understanding that he can play in the NHL without sabotaging his own personal relationships or hiding a part of himself, and he hopes Whisk will consider the Aces as his landing place if he knows just how much the team will support him.

“That’s not true at all, Connor. You don’t have to prove anything. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being queer and playing in the league, and if you find the right team, they’ll know that. You’re not the first one to worry about this, but I promise you that there’s plenty of us out there and we’ve all learnt that it’s okay to be ourselves while we play. I’m –  not here to campaign for my team, or anything, but I can tell you this: if you do decide to come to the Aces, not only will we be thrilled to have you, but you will never be doubted because of your sexuality, and no one will ever say anything about it to hurt you.”

Whisk looks up at Kent, and he looks – _hopeful_. Kent smiles.

“The Aces would – be happy to have me? Really? I know they’ve sent a scout a few times, but I didn’t think they’d actually want to – I wasn’t that sure I was going to get _any_ offers, but _Vegas_ is –”

He stops talking so abruptly that Kent immediately knows there’s something here that needs to be said.

“Vegas is…” Kent says, and knows Whisk’s aware that it’s a question, a prompt.

Whisk looks over to the tent he and Chad slept in, then down at the table in front of him, and finally says, so quiet Kent has to strain to hear him, “Vegas is where Chad’s going to move to, after graduation. He’s planning on accepting a job offer there.”

Kent would laugh, if it weren’t still kind of worrying how much shit they need to get together. Jesus _Christ_ , these two are hopeless. And hopelessly in love, it seems like.

“So,” Kent offers, “Maybe you should tell him you’ve got a guaranteed spot on the team in the city he wants to move to. Might help… move things in the right direction?”

“A guaranteed spot, though? What if management changes their mind by the summer and don’t want to sign me for next season?”

Kent laughs, says, “Trust me bud, they’ve got a contract drawn up already. I can get it in writing that there’s a spot for you if it’ll make you feel better, but you have my word. They’ll sign you, Whisk. We’d all love to have you play for us.”

Whisk still doesn’t look like he wants to believe it.

“Even though you know that I’m – y’know, gay? It makes me – a liability. Why would you want to guarantee me a spot?”

Whisk isn’t going to get over this kind of inbuilt fear in one pep talk, Kent knows. Even if he makes it to the Aces locker room, gets to see everyone rally behind him night after night, watches them all chirp Kent about his boyfriend without a hint of disgust, he’ll have doubts. Homophobia is a big enough part of hockey that it’s almost impossible to let go of that fear, Kent knows from experience.

Still, Kent will do his best to reassure Whisk that it’s worth living through the fear, because it won’t be near as hard as he thinks it will.

“You’re not a liability, Whisk,” he says, putting as much certainty in his voice as he can, “don’t ever believe anyone who says you are. And I’m not the only queer person on the Aces, or the only person there who will tell you that there’s nothing wrong with being who you are. We’re proud to have all the LGBT+ people in our room that we do, and you’d be no exception. Of course we want to sign you, bud. You’d make our team better, on and off the ice.”

It’s a bit of a media response, but he hopes Whisk hears the truth in it. He also just really, really hopes Whisk signs with them, somewhat selfishly but also because he knows it’s best for both Whisk and Chad. Kent would be willing to bet the only reason Chad _hasn’t_ accepted the Vegas job offer is because he wants to see what Whisk is doing.

 _‘Not dating’ my ass,_ Kent thinks.

By the time Tater comes out of the tent, closely followed by Chad emerging from his own, Whisk is looking a little more alive and is chatting with Kent easily, almost like some of his hope in the future has been restored.

Kent hopes that’s true; Whisk is a really nice kid, and Kent’s really hoping he’ll get to play with him next season. Hopefully minus all the angsty gay drama.

 

///////////

 

Connor can’t stop thinking about what Parson said this morning. That the Aces genuinely want him to sign with them. That being gay won’t be an issue in the locker room, or even in the league most of the time.

That he could go off and play in the NHL, and still get to have Chad in his life as – something more than what he is now.

These are the kinds of things he didn’t think he’d ever believe, and yet he can already feel himself growing hopeful.

There’s not much he can do about the Aces until they put a contract in front of him, but he makes sure Parson knows they’re his first choice, if they really do want him. He lets himself believe that Parson’s telling the truth about not worrying about homophobia, and it’s like a massive weight has been lifted from his shoulders. He really, really hopes that it’s true, that if Connor makes it to the league he won’t face many problems if he has a boyfriend or anything.

The thing that he can’t stop thinking about, more than anything else, is the possibility that he and Chad could have something real, something that lasts beyond Chad’s graduation and Whiskey’s departure for the NHL. It’s exactly what Mashkov hinted at yesterday, and it makes Connor wonder if they teamed up to try and execute some sort of ridiculous plan. Why on earth they care, why anyone would, is beyond him, but he’ll take the nudge.

He really needs to talk to Chad.

Once they’ve cleaned up from breakfast, they all decide they want to explore the area a bit, so they head out on a bit of a trek. The park where they’re staying is beautiful, all steep mountains and towering trees, vast lakes and flowing rivers.

They hike to the top of a hill kind of near their campsite, and it doesn’t take too long. When they get to the top, they find a few different paths, some leading straight back to the base and others more scenic, heading past nearby lakes or over other hills. They decide to split into groups, different people wanting to go different ways, and Connor ends up walking past one of the beautiful nearby lakes with Chad.

He thinks it might not be an accident that the two of them were left alone, but he doesn’t complain. He spent the whole walk up here thinking about what to say without it being a total disaster, and now is a great chance to put his plan into action.

The thing, of course, is that Connor sometimes struggles to say what he means, no matter how much he thinks about it in advance.

He looks down at his and Chad’s hands, which are linked together, and his chest aches.

“Chad?” He asks.

Chad hums, still looking out at the lake as they walk along.

“I – uh, wanted to talk to you about something,” Connor says, knowing it sounds awkward and too heavy as soon as it leaves his mouth.

Chad looks up at him.

“Is everything okay?” He asks, and Connor nods, but the truth is that he’s not really sure. It depends how Chad reacts to this, how badly Connor fucks it all up by talking about his feelings for once.

“It’s just, uh, about us. I’ve been talking to Parson and Mashkov a bit about, like, what’s going to happen after this summer and where I’m going to go, and, uh, what will happen with us. I know that, like, officially dating is – a pretty big deal, and you’re so busy with grad stuff and I’m only going to get busier from here, and. There’s no guarantees about the future, where I’ll be and where you’ll be and if we’ll be anywhere near each other, let alone with enough time to spend together, but. I just – I wanted to know what you thought about it, if you thought there was a chance for us to – and I don’t want to put any pressure on you, or make a decision for you, I just thought I’d ask how you feel about us. Dating.”

 _I’m in love with you,_ he tries to force himself to say, but he still doesn’t know if it’s _true_ , so he stays silent.

Chad nods a couple times, looks back to the lake, and then abruptly lets go of Connor’s hand, putting distance between the two of them.

“Right,” he says, “yeah, okay. I understand, totally. You’re right; we’re both busy, we might not be able to spend time together after I graduate, it’s – not a good idea, probably. We should just – yeah. Listen, I just remembered I have to ask Jack something really important, while he’s not busy, so I’m going to go ahead and rush back to the campsite, but you take your time. I’ll, uh, see you back there, Connor.”

And with that, Chad rushes ahead on the path, before Connor can even get another word in.

Well, shit.

Connor sits down on a rock nearby, and finally stops trying to hold in the few tears trying to make their way down his face.

Maybe he used to think this would be for the best; Chad and Connor not together in any way, Connor clear on where the boundaries are and finally sure Chad doesn’t feel that way about him.

Somehow, though, being let down like that just hurt, crushed all the hope that had been building in Connor’s chest since long before it should have. So they were never going to work, Chad was never going to be ‘his man’.

Connor should have known.

 

///////////

 

The fire’s been burning for almost hour, and while Jack’s really appreciating the warmth they’re getting from it, he’s not appreciating all the chirps he’s getting.

So what if he can’t cook s’mores? He’s a professional athlete, that’s not exactly the kind of skill that he needs.

At this point, though, he’ll take the teasing, if only to take the attention off the awkward, tense energy between them all. Chad and Whiskey had a – disagreement, of sorts, earlier in the day, and they’re all aware of it, even if no one brings it up.

Jack had spoken to Chad as soon as he’d come rushing back to the campsite, alone, looking like he was trying not to cry. It hadn’t taken long to convince the guy to spill at least part of the story: Whiskey had apparently decided that the middle of a nature walk on a camping trip designed to help them with bonding was the perfect time to tell Chad he wanted to break up.

Up until this point, Jack had stayed out of all the gossip about Whiskey and Chad, and he knew Bitty had been worried about them, but he told Bitty it was probably better he didn’t spill everything he knew about the situation to Jack. If Bitty wanted Whiskey to trust him, to eventually be willing to talk to Bitty about things and avoid situations like the party Bitty had found him at, he had to show that he wasn’t going to share Whiskey’s private life with anyone. Not even Jack.  

Now, though, Jack’s regretting not talking to Bitty about it more, because it seems they have vastly different perspectives. Namely, Jack’s decidedly supporting Chad, and Bits seems to be entirely on Whiskey’s side. Jack doesn’t understand it, how after everything he’s pandering to Whiskey like he didn’t just break his own boyfriend’s heart, because up until now Bits had seemed firmly supportive of their relationship.

Jack and Bitty are huddled next to each other on a log, soaking in the warmth of the fire, and Jack knows now isn’t the time to talk to Bitty about this. They’ve been looking forward to this camping getaway for months, and while Jack’s worried about what’s happening between the other two Wellies, he knows it’s better for everyone if they leave it for now.

Tater and Kent are sitting opposite them, and Kent’s taking the opportunity to launch marshmallows at Jack every so often. Tater, not at all dressed for the cold in just a long-sleeved shirt, keeps trying to wrap himself around Kent for warmth, like there isn’t a fire right in front of him. When he’s not smothering his boyfriend, Tater’s continuously cracking jokes, trying to get laughs out of everyone else.

Mostly, Jack thinks, he’s trying to get laughs out of Whiskey and Chad, who are both sitting on the ground, a folded blanket underneath each of them, completely across from each other and both wholeheartedly trying to ignore the other.

Tater tells a story about one of the pranks Jack had helped him play on Snowy last month, and everyone laughs with him. After a few seconds of silence, Tater waiting to see if anyone else will pick the conversation up, Chad stands up and dusts himself off, proclaiming, “I’m going to head to bed now, I think, I’m totally exhausted from today. Good night, everyone.”

They all watch him go, disappearing into his and Whiskey’s tent, and a strange kind of quiet falls over the group.

Bitty, sitting closest to Whiskey, puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Are you okay, hun?” He asks.

Whiskey sighs.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I, uh, guess I better head to bed too, huh? I’ll see you guys in the morning,” he says, then adds, in a quieter voice, “if I make it through the damn night.”

He heads off too, and the silence doesn’t last too long before it makes its way back to quiet conversation, chirps flying easily between the four of them, and many mentions to their longstanding relationship competition.

Eventually, after a number of truly embarrassing stories have been shared by and about every member of the group, Tater and Kent decide to head to bed as well, leaving only Jack and Bitty, looking out over the lake and into the clear night sky.

“Poor Whiskey,” Bits says, after a few minutes of silence.

Jack clears his throat, unsure of how to tread.

“I, uh, don’t know, Bits. I spoke to Chad right after he and Whiskey talked, and – I know you don’t want to take the side of someone else over one of your own boys, but it really seems like Whiskey was in the wrong. Chad’s really upset.”

“Maybe because he’s trying to ‘no-homo’ his way out of this, like he has any right to do that? He turned Whiskey down, and not gently, after everything he did to convince us all he’d be the perfect boyfriend for him. Just because he lives in a frat house and plays _lacrosse,_ for Christ’s sake, doesn’t give him an excuse to break the heart of one of my boys.”

Jack, who humbly believes his own emotional maturity is finally above a college level, thinks he might see at least part of what’s going on here.

“I think there might have seen some miscommunication, babe. Chad definitely didn’t try to turn Whiskey down. He thought – he thought Whiskey was _breaking up with him._ He was devastated. He was so sure – especially with Kent here, he said he was so sure Whiskey was going to move to Vegas with him, and then out of nowhere Whiskey wants nothing to do with him – he said it just didn’t make sense. Maybe they – both misunderstood what the other was trying to say? What was Whiskey trying to tell him?”

Bitty laughs, almost like he can’t believe it, but his forehead is still creased in worry.

“Whiskey asked Chad if he wanted to be his boyfriend. He asked Chad to date him. He was hoping if all went well they could plan to – move to Vegas together, like you said.”

Jack frowns.

“They weren’t dating already?”

“No, no, but we knew they both wanted to be. That’s part of what this whole weekend was about, honey. We wanted them to finally talk about dating.”

And finally Jack sees it.

“Chad thought they were,” he realises out loud. “He thought they were dating. And whatever Whiskey said, probably about how hard dating could be, he thought he was saying it wasn’t worth it, not that it absolutely could be.”

Bitty snorts.

“Are you sure?” He asks, but he sounds like he already believes him.

“Positive, Bits.  We’re going to have to actually intervene, this time.”

“Lord knows they need the help,” Bitty says, and Jack couldn’t agree more.


	5. Paper Rain by Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness

When Connor wakes up, the first thing he registers is the arm resting over his torso, wrapped around his chest and holding him close. He tries to remember what happened for them to end up here, and it all comes back to him – their conversation yesterday, Chad’s rejection, the awkward distance between them for the rest of the day. He remembers coming into the tent to get ready for bed and there being a physical distance between the two of them the whole time, like there was some kind of invisible forcefield stopping them from coming too close.

He remembers going to sleep, and for the second night in a row, yearning to be wrapped around Chad, instead of awkwardly apart from him. He remembers how much more it hurt, last night, than it had the night before.

And now here they are, Chad still asleep and Connor blinking awake, wrapped around each other as if they can only be near each other when they’re asleep. Connor doesn’t know what to do – Chad would probably hate this, if he was awake, but Connor doesn’t want to have to wake him up and deal with the awkwardness. He can’t stay here forever, because Chad will wake up eventually, but part of him wants to just never move.

He just lies there for a while, and by the time he’s resigned to having to get up, he has no idea how much time has passed.

He pulls away from Chad, and sits up, ready to leave the tent. He turns back around to check on the other boy, and finds that Chad’s eyes are wide open, looking back at Connor.

Well shit.

Before Connor can let himself think about how long Chad must have been awake for, if he knows that Connor has been awake this whole time, he just gets out a “good morning” and rushes from the tent, leaving Chad alone.

When Connor makes it over to the main tarp, he finds Bitty sitting alone at the table, humming to himself. He looks up when Connor approaches, and greets him cheerily.

“How are you feeling this morning, hun?” He asks.

“Yeah,” Connor responds, “I’ve been worse. Probably.”

Bitty’s face fills with sympathy. Connor’s not very used to confiding in Bitty, especially not about this sort of thing, but he’d spoken to his captain yesterday, needing someone to understand what had happened and not quite trusting Parson enough yet.

“I’m sorry, Whiskey. But listen, I was speaking to Jack last night, and he said he spoke to Chad about it, and – I won’t start gossiping, but it seems like you really should have another talk with Chad. I think he might have misunderstood you, because he seems really upset as well. I know it’s hard, hun, but I think there’s a happy ending there for you if you chat wìth him.”

Connor’s getting kind of sick of people trying to get his hopes up.

“I don’t know, Bits. I think he made it pretty clear how he felt.”

But even as he says it, he thinks about Chad’s face when they made eye contact this morning, and he realises Bitty’s right: Chad was _sad._

Bitty’s still looking at him expectantly, probably waiting for him to change his mind, so Connor adds, “But yeah, fine, it probably wouldn’t hurt to clear a few things up. I’ll talk to him later.”

Bitty looks like he wants to say something else, but before he can, Chad emerges from their tent and comes to join them. Connor barely catches the look Bitty throw’s Chad’s way, but he thinks it might have been pitying.

“Morning, Chad! I was just telling Whiskey about how we’ve run out of firewood. Jack thinks it might rain this morning, but he doesn’t really know the first thing about camping, so I think it might be best for us to prepare to light a fire anyway. After you’ve eaten breakfast, do you think the two of you could go collect some wood for us, like we did on Friday night?”

Chad just nods, looking kind of bewildered.

“Sure, Bitty. Sounds good to me. Connor, you good with that?”

He looks up to Connor, and when they make eye contact, Chad flinches a tiny bit, like he can’t quite deal with looking Connor in the eye.

Connor nods, and sets off to make himself some breakfast. He makes some for Chad too, knowing the other boy’s preferences already, and when he sets the bowl of cereal in front of Chad wordlessly, he forces himself to avoid eye contact.

Breakfast is a quiet affair, the air filled with awkward silence, until Mashkov and Parson emerge together, Mashkov’s loud voice carrying across the campsite.

When Connor finishes eating, Chad clears both their bowls and starts washing up without being asked. Connor takes the opportunity to take some deep breaths, preparing to head off in a supposed search for firewood. He doesn’t actually know if Bitty expects them to come back with supplies, or if the whole thing is an excuse for them to talk, but Connor imagines it’ll depend how well the ‘talking’ aspect of it goes.

When Chad finishes, he dries his hands and turns around to nod at Connor, and the two of them set off, half-heartedly looking around them for dry wood.

Once the campsite is finally out of view, Connor starts gearing himself up to start this conversation, unsure of how to begin without making it the mirror image of their discussion yesterday. Chad, however, takes the initiative, and starts the conversation himself.

“Listen, Connor,” he starts, and Connor’s heart feels like it’s going to beat out of his chest, “I just wanted to apologise for how I acted yesterday. I shouldn’t have –”

Connor cuts him off.

“No, no, _I’m_ sorry, Chad. I shouldn’t have assumed you felt the same way, that you knew that  –”

Chad goes on like he can’t hear him.

“Assumed that you were okay with us dating, with everything that’s going to happen in the future, and I –”

“Parson told me the Aces would be happy to have me, because I never told you about the offer or that it was what I wanted, I shouldn’t have assumed you’d want me to just”

“Don’t even know where you’ll be next season, or why you’d ever want to just –”

“Follow you to Vegas!” Connor finishes.

Chad finally stops and looks at him.

“Yeah. I shouldn’t have assumed you’d just follow me to Vegas, even if that’s what I want. Exactly.”

Everything Chad just said comes together in Connor’s head, and he thinks _oh._

“Chad, wait, what? You, you _want_ me to follow you to Vegas? I thought you didn’t want to be dating me?”

“I – what? Connor, what? You’re the one that broke up with me!”

Jesus Christ. Bitty was right; they’d both definitely misunderstood.

“I didn’t – Chad, I wasn’t breaking up with you. I was – I was asking you if you _wanted_ to date me.”

Chad freezes completely still.

“What? We were already dating, Con, why would you –”

Connor laughs, says, “I didn’t know. I didn’t realise we were dating, I wasn’t sure if you were serious about us, or if I was allowed to be. But everyone said – they all thought that we should talk about dating, so I thought I’d ask you, in case you wanted to be dating, and you just said it was – a bad idea, I assumed you were letting me down gently.”

Chad still looks like he can’t quite believe it.

“You absolute _idiot,_ oh my god, how did you not know we were dating, I –”

And now Connor can’t help himself, because they both want to be dating and they both want to go to Vegas together, and Chad is just so beautiful, so he wraps his arms around the other boy’s back and leans in.

And then the sky opens up, and it starts pouring rain.

The two of them are standing under a few trees, but they’re not protected much, and the rain is absolutely _bucketing_ down.

Neither of them seems to care, though, because Chad takes the cue and leans in too, and soon they’re standing in the middle of a national park, soaking wet, completely wrapped around each other, kissing like there’s no tomorrow.

It’s funny, Connor thinks, how sometimes things work out in the one way you didn’t expect them to.

 

///////////

 

When Connor and Chad return to the campsite with grins on their faces, dripping from the rain, holding hands, and without any firewood, Kent feels pretty justified in coming to a good conclusion. It seems the other three come to the same conclusion, because they all smile at the two Wellies as they walk over to the tarp for some protection from the rain.

The two boys were gone for a while, so they’d packed up most of the camping stuff while they were out, hoping for an earlier getaway than expected, so they could make it back to Samwell before it got too flooded.

Kent’s just loading one of the tent bags into the back of the car, trying to avoid the rain as much as he can, when Chad sprints over to him, holding an umbrella out to cover Kent as well as himself.

Kent looks up at him and smiles in thanks, then says “Congratulations,” in the least shit-eating way he can manage.

Chad looks far too happy to consider being offended.

“You better be serious about that contract offer, Parson. Connor’s serious about wanting to play for you guys, and I’m not letting him go anywhere where they won’t support him anyway.”

Kent puts his hands up placatingly, says, “Serious as can be, Chad. We’d love to have him on the team. And we’d love to have you around as well, maybe sitting with the other partners at games?”

Chad grins. “Looking forward to it, Parson.”

Kent’s damn happy for them. They deserve to have their shit sorted out, and Kent thinks that part of him that he sees in Connor isn’t doing as good a job at sabotaging Connor as it did with Kent right around when he first started seeing Tater.

He thinks back to that, to the days where he had no idea if he and Tater would ever be serious. He thinks back to just two days ago, telling Jack that people aren’t really serious about him, and Jack adamantly disagreeing.

He thinks about how he and Tater have come farther than he ever thought they would, and he honestly can’t see a future without Tater in it. Kent thinks maybe all the shit he’s been telling other people, even telling himself, about how he doesn’t trust it to last forever, is kind of bullshit.

He trusts Tater. He trusts himself. He trusts his intuition, like he did with Chad and Connor, and he knows a good, long-lasting relationship when he sees it.

He thinks about Jack telling him it was time to ‘put a ring on it’, and he thinks about the beautiful ring he saw in the jewellery store in Vegas a few months ago.

The future, Kent thinks, sure looks bright.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I planned an epilogue, no, it didn’t make it in here, yes, I hope to write it as a whole sequel. 
> 
> Get ready for a reunion in Vegas and… perhaps an engagement? Guess we’ll just have to wait and see!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading, and again to topieornottopie for the beautiful artwork that started this all, and betty for being my favourite oracle <3
> 
> Let me know what you thought, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated !


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